New Clarkson business miniseries shows how to bring ideas to market

Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 8:58 am

POTSDAM -- The Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University is partnering with the law firm Wood Oviatt Gilman LLP of Rochester for a business miniseries, “Where do I begin?” which will focus on bringing ideas to market.

These classes will run from 6 to 8 p.m. three consecutive Mondays, May 7, 14 and 21, in Clarkson University’s newly renovated Peyton Hall Conference Room, 65 Main St.

Anyone who has had a great moneymaking idea could probably have benefited from help in how to commercialize the idea and bring it to market.

The topics for May 7 are Prototyping: What is involved in taking an idea from paper to a functional product; and Patenting Your Idea: Dennis Danella Esq., a patent attorney from Woods Oviatt Gilman, will discuss patenting, copyrights and trademarks.

The topics for May 14 are Hiring Your First Employee: Why is a job application and description so important and what paperwork is required to be compliant with state and federal law; and Financial Management: What is required for new business startups, entity selection and proper record keeping.

The topic for May 21 is Marketing and Branding: Why it is important to identify a product or service and convince customers to see it as the only one that provides that unique service or product.

Wood Oviatt Gilman represents companies in a variety of intellectual property matters and has worked with companies in industrial, retail, and medical fields to obtain and protect intellectual property including trade secrets. They assist companies in protecting their intellectual property from undesired exploitation by employees, independent contractors and third parties.

Those interested in attending should contact Shipley Center for Innovation Program Coordinator Robyn Seifert at 268-7610 or rseifert@clarkson.edu.